jfchandler

OK...read thru almost 11 pages of this thread looking for "news" and found precious little...

Here's a summary of the latest as reported by Thailand Outlook Channel as of about 10 am...

New: The red-shirt protesters have managed to take back control of the Din Daeng intersection. An LPG gas tanker is being used to block access into and out of the area. Despite the government's declaration earlier this morning that they have dispersed the red-shirt protesters who have blocked off the Din Daeng intersection, the protesters have managed to overtake the area once again as at 8.45am this morning. An LPG gas tanker was seen blocking the intersection.

Prior: At close to 5am, the military started firing tear gas into the red shirt protest at the Din Daeng intersection as part of the plan to disperse the rally. Gun shots were heard periodically. A lot of injuries and arrests are expected.

Reports indicate that 77 people have been injured in the government's dispersal of red-shirt protesters at Din Daeng intersection. 24 people are being treated at the Ramathibodi Hospital. 8 people are at Rajavithee Hospital, including 1 individual who was suffered serious injuries from the incident. Three other individuals who are being treated at Phramongkut Hospital were also seriously injured. Most of the patients are suffering from irritations caused by tear gas.

Most of the red-shirt protesters have been dispersed and reportedly returned home. But there are still some number of protesters who are gathering at Government House. Soldiers have already surrounded the protesters and secured the outer perimeter of the compound.

Areas where there heavy presence of red-shirt protesters and to be avoided are: the entire Rattanakosin island, Sri Ayutthaya intersection, Rama 6 road, Phoholyothin road, Victory monument, Din Daeng intersection, Suthisarn that crosses over to Vipavadi, Arjnarong expressway exit and Yomaraj expressway exit.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva went on national TV at about midnight to announce that arrest warrants have been issued for 5 red shirt leaders for disrupting the ASEAN Summit.

The red shirt stage at Government House has announced that red shirt leader Arisman Pongruengrong, who led the protest to disrupt the ASEAN Summit in Pattaya, has been released on bail and will leave the Naresuan military camp to appear on the red shirt stage later this morning.

The police have come out to warn that banks and petrol stations may be the targets of red shirt protesters in bombings and torchings to wreak havoc. Reports have also come in of red shirt protesters stealing a gas truck and parking it at the Din Daeng intersection, causing concern for people living in the area.

Members of the press covering the red shirt rally at Government House have retreated for fear of their safety after the protesters say they cannot guarantee their safety anymore. Another report says a group of 500 red shirt protesters are making their way to the Democrat Party headquarters to prepare to torch the building. Police presence there is limited.

Members of press at Royal Plaza have also left the area, after leaders of red-shirt protesters have announced they'll no longer guarantee the safety of the media. Most members of the press have fallen back to regroup at Parliament.

We took a taxi to and from On Nut BTS to Srinakarin area this afternoon via Sukhumvit road. Outbound about 10 am and returning about 1 pm... Not a whit of traffic going other way...

Kiakaha, I don't know about banking software, but I do know about banking networks.

If you have a U.S. based VISA or MasterCard branded credit or debit card, and use it here in Thailand, the transaction is handled by the VISA or MC networks and they typically impose a 1% processing charge on credit card transactions, apart from anything more the issuing U.S. bank may add on.

If you have a straight ATM card (non VISA or MasterCard), the transaction typically is handled by a different network (such as Cirrus or STAR), and typically there is little or no transaction fee, and VISA and MC are not involved. So usually, straight bank ATM cards (non VISA or MC) are more economical to use here in Thailand.

In the U.S. at least, banks do use separate terminology for ATM vs debit cards....

Usually, when they say debit card, that means it's VISA or MasterCard branded and can be used for online purchases, point of sale purchases and such, although the money is taken directly from your bank account (unlike a credit card).

But when they say ATM only, and I have some of those, it typically only carries the issuing bank's name and can only be used to make ATM withdrawals.

Anyone know if the new fee will apply to just the one type, or to both??

The core banking software that processes card transactions knows cards as being debit or credit. 2 categories for financial cards, period. There are also non financial cards ie: loyalty cards, fleet cards etc...

How a card is advertised,marketed, branded, etc... by an issuer, is obviously irrelvant to a computer system processing ISO standard messages to complete the transaction ie: in the context of the transaction...... a "cash card" would be "debit", a bank issued card that some people refer to as "ATM card" would be "debit" , a Visa credit card would be "credit". a Visa Electon card would be "debit" etc......

So when the Thai Bank Association refer to debit and credit cards, I would have to assume that they are being technically correct and referring to all financial cards.

In the U.S. at least, banks do use separate terminology for ATM vs debit cards....

Usually, when they say debit card, that means it's VISA or MasterCard branded and can be used for online purchases, point of sale purchases and such, although the money is taken directly from your bank account (unlike a credit card).

But when they say ATM only, and I have some of those, it typically only carries the issuing bank's name and can only be used to make ATM withdrawals.

Anyone know if the new fee will apply to just the one type, or to both??

my point is I have eaten there several times with the mrs.

my order usually consists of 2 different sets of tacos including the house special or chimichangas, plus the larger nachos and a marg or two for me and a soft drink for her.

my bill for 2 people has never been higher than 750 baht if I recall.

Geez James, the one thing I've noticed over the past few months is that you almost seem to eat for a living!!!

So it made me wonder.....

1. How do you afford it?

and 2. How do you keep your figure???

:jerk:

Always the joker James!!!!

1. Truth is, the GF and I eat at home most days of the week, but tend to eat out on her days off work. So that averages maybe 2 days a week, which I would assume is about average for folks. Nothing special about that.

But, the difference is, I like to regularly write about our restaurant outings.

2. Exercise every day (or almost) for health and keeping the figure.

Had another very good meal the other night at the Great American Rib Co. branch on Suk. Soi 36...

625 baht "Half feast" for two people with pork ribs, pulled pork, BBQ chicken, and sliced pork loin with wasabi sauce, accompanied by small helpings of jalapeno corn bread, potato salad, cole slaw, french fries and BBQ beans.

Washed down with a litre or so pitcher of very good mango margaritas. With GARC's mandatory 10% service charge and 7% VAT the total came to about 1,150 baht. Had the same meal before with the same result -- pretty consistently good.

Once again, as with past visits there, there were more Thai families there eating good ole' U.S. BBQ than farang folks. A very pleasant meal and evening.

Too bad they don't likewise have a "happy hour" on the "young chicks"....

I think in another way, what about male masseurs and female customers?

Never seen male masseurs in LOS, but I can be sure there are...

Midori, you REALLY must get out and around more...

There are a lot of male masseur places around. I prefer the feminine approach... But just walk down Silom Road near the Saladaeng BTS station any day and you'll encounter a bunch of mostly male or male only places (I mean the masseurs, not who they accept as customers). It may have some relation that Silom Sois 2 and 4 nearby are gay club hangouts...

It seems to me, in traveling around BKK, I have seen similar places elsewhere, including around Sukhumvit, and I've visited Thai massage places around On Nut where the staff are mixed women and men (the latter seemingly a bit on the gay side).

I remember going to On Nut once with a group of Thai female friends and one of them chose a Thai massage from the male staff member, perfectly fine. Likewise, I got pulled into one of the Silom Road places some years ago by a Thai GF who wanted a massage from a male masseur there, so I ended up having the same. In that particular shop, there were no female staff to be found.

So ladies really do have a choice of male or female provider for their Thai massages. But I'm not quite sure which gender they tend to prefer???

In hindsight, I probably should have avoided the KFC-Taco Bell reference, because that subject tends to lead to a different debate...

My main point was, marketing folks these days are spending money to pitch at least some Mexican themed food products (for better or worse) to a predominantly Thai audience in Thailand. I think that's an interesting development that perhaps bodes well for such "Mexican" food lovers here...

About the Thai Japanese chains, I would agree with Ulysses...

I lived my whole life until now in California, mostly the Los Angeles area, before moving here. And was married to a Japanese and ate and loved all kinds of Japanese food for years (and still do, albeit in Thailand). Most expensive restaurant meal I ever ate was a Japanese place in Beverly Hills (now deceased) that jetted its sushi fish in fresh several times a week from Japan and had wonderful Kobe beef. The dinner was superb, but the bill for two for dinner came to close to $500 U.S., and that was about 10 years ago.

For simple, basic Japanese fare, I think Fuji is fine (never tried Zen yet). I've ordered a variety of dishes (mostly non-sushi) there in the past couple years, and never had a bad meal. I love sushi, but tend to stay away from it at most places here, since the freshness of the fish is make or break. But for cooked dishes, noodles, vegetables and even their Thai-ized sashimi salads, why not??? They're perfectly tasty and fine.

I find myself craving Japanese food since Greek seems to be unavailable.

What is the best Japanese restaurant in Bangkok? Both sushi and non-sushi.

Don't forget to list the location. And directions if its hard to find, I seem to find myself getting lost easily.

Don't say that so fast... Saw a review on the BK Magazine web site the other day for a Greek place called Souvlaki on Silom Soi 4 near the Saladaeng BTS station. Haven't tried it yet, but it got a decent review.

See the magazine review here...

Interesting to notice, anybody else seen these....??

When I've been riding BTS lately, I'm seeing back-to-back TV commercials on their on-train video advertising system showing ads for some kind of chips called "Dr. Taco" and for some kind of "Mexican" flavored chicken offering coming from KFC....

Both videos have very traditional Mexican imagery presented. And while farangs certainly are passengers on the BTS system, the customer base there is certainly predominantly Thai. So somebody must think it's worth investing their advertising dollars in pitching Mexican themed products to a Thai audience.

Makes one wonder about the convergence prospects in Thailand for the sister outlets operated by YUM brands, being KFC and Taco Bell.

Such as, this joint operation in San Francisco, CA....

Sanooki, if you're paying $45 U.S. to BofA, you're doing a traditional wire transfer, not ACH....

The ACH process described above in the thread is one you initiate directly from within your access to BofA online banking, under the Outside the Bank transfers tab. There is no $45 fee associated with that process, because the fees involved are much less.

Main road between BKK and Korat wasa completely blocked both diections this afternoon. traffic backed up for miles in both directions outside Saravuri... hundreds of police aand vans milling about parked on the highway itself. heard it was some kind of protest thing, but never got close enough to see.

I too noticed the closure of the bar next to the Exchange Tower (Sukhumvit and Asoke). Just in the past few weeks, they'd had billboard's out on the street advertising food and drink specials there, but it did always seem empty... and hadn't been open there that long.... You called it the Champagne Bar.... Wasn't that the name of the still closed place next to/above Bully's Pub near Sukhumvit Soi 2-4???

The Indian restaurant on Suk Soi 8, just a block from Nana BTS, that has just closed I believe was called the Indian Garden. The food there was pretty decent, and they always seemed to have a fair number of mostly Indian customers. But the space is being converted now into a small hotel, and the restaurant owners (who have other restaurants in BKK) supposedly are opening a new place in Pattaya.

Meanwhile, there remain two other existing Indian restaurants (India Today and Namuskaar) within less than one block of that location, and a third and new vegetarian-only place has just opened around the corner on Sukhumvit Road, just under the Nana BTS station, with the name of Aryaa's.... Those and a half dozen other Indian places within less than a 5 minute walk.

I've lived here full-time for a year and a half now in BKK, and I've never been bored here...not one minute...not one day.

I don't have a regular office job, but I do spend "work" time at home taking care of my finances in various ways, when I want, how I want. Rarely go to pubs and rarely drinking, unless out for a night out dancing or dining (which we do a fair amount). Like to take short vacation trips often or go out to visit with friends, which I rarely had time to do back in the U.S.

A lot of my time so far has been spent learning about everything new about my new home and country. I want to know how to do things here, and get what I want (whatever that may be). That includes learning the visa ropes and how to manage that whole situation, how to best travel around, where to find things for shopping, how to best handle local banking, etc etc.

A lot of time also lady hunting in the past, but now settled down with one good woman. She has a regular job, so I enjoy spending time taking care of simple home things (like shopping, and laundry and cleaning a bit) so she doesn't have to. That makes her happy when she comes home, and that makes me happy.

Big difference from back in the U.S. in my working days... Here, I can and do exercise almost every day, walking or swimming or bicycling mostly. When I was working full-time, I never had the time or the energy to do that. Enjoy a leisurely breakfast in the morning, read the day's news, listen to some podcast radio shows I like, take care of home things, go out for exercise and shopping..

And at the end of the day, go to meet my GF at her work and come home together... fix and eat dinner together, and spend our evening together...

But the best thing is, while I enjoy the general routine/lifestyle mentioned above, if I wanted to do something else or anything else, I absolutely could. How I choose to spend my time is entirely up to me. And that's the best part of the whole deal.

Ever notice how, in cable rated movies, whenever a man and woman are about to consumate their romantic tryst, they also cut away to waves on the beach, or rain on a window pane, or a waterfall... Get the idea? Liquid, flowing... ahem...

Why???

One of the regular BKK emails I receive recently noted the demise of both Tokyo Joe's music bar on Suk Soi 26 and the more girly oriented Tequila Dragon on Suk Soi 7-1... The closure of TJ's has been reported in another TV thread here... But I haven't seen any mention here of Tequila Dragon going under.

Happened to be walking past TJ's location the other day, and all the signage was gone, and workers were actively inside redoing the space. The former bar was gone as were all the prior fixtures to be seen on the ground floor.

The BKK email I received said Pattaya's Secrets bar reportedly was interested in opening a BKK location at the TD site, but was put off by a high rent demand.

Elsewhere in town, I read that the Mambo Cabaret in Washington Square is gone, but that the surrounding Washington Square bars seem to have gotten at least a temporary reprieve from plans to redevelop the area.

What other popular places around town are biting the dust???

I do need to make one point on the "extras" to which you referred.  Whatever happens on Sukhumvhit or like places, well that is there  If you go to Koh San, a hotel spa, or other "normal" places, don't even embarrass yourself by asking.  The women get insulted and angry.  I have been there when a drunk man kept insisting, and the poor woman ended up running out of the shop. And I have been there a few times after someone did that, and all the women were complaining.  Most of the massage parlors in Thailand are just that, massage parlors.  So please treat the masseuses with the same respect and courtesy you would treat anyone else.  

I have female friends who work in the business in BKK, and have had Thai massages in various cities at various times all around Thailand. I'd suggest, based on that, that Bonobo is oversimplifying a bit. For example, I know of perfectly regular Thai massage shops where in the same shop, some ladies will only do the menu listed items. And, in the same shop, other ladies are more than happy to go beyond the menu for a price. Thailand is rarely a place of absolute black and whites...

Ladies in the business get propositioned all the time, particularly in touristy areas, and if they're not interested, they're perfectly fine to politely tell the customer so. The problems arise, unfortunately, when male customers sometimes refuse to take NO for an answer. But frankly, it's more often a case of a man having to turn down oil massages rather than seek them out. For the massage lady, the oil massage is easier physically to perform and usually shorter in duration as well as more expensive (meaning they get a bit larger pay for a shorter time). That makes it an attractive proposition from the lady and shop's perspective, apart from whatever intentions the customer may have.

Likewise, if the customer happens to seek some type of massage that that particular lady doesn't offer, it's not uncommon for the original lady to then offer to switch/swap with another lady in her shop who can meet the customer's needs. As should be no surprise, within reason, they want the customer to be happy and hopefully return for future visits.

I'd say, in reality, there's usually the whole gamut of massage places on offer in any larger city in Thailand. Some, as mentioned above, are pretty clear about the additional services they provide based on the way they advertise or present their staff. Others are at the opposite end of the spectrum. But indeed, in the middle range, it can sometimes be difficult for a newcomer to tell in which manner the shop (and/or the lady) are operating.

But as long as the customer is polite and respects the masseuse involved, the customer is not likely to be saying anything they haven't heard (or been asked) some time before. Just use common sense, and take your cues from the environment and atmosphere of the shop involved, and the approach your masseuse takes with you.

Keep a stiff upper lip... stud.... No one ever said life in Thailand would be easy...

If you are a fan of Gyoza (and I am), I found what could possibly be the best in the city at Siam Paragon of all places.

Basement level, KCa Ramen (opposite Burger King). Not cheap (80 baht for 5) but 10x better than anything served up at Oeeshi or Fuji.

The Daikoku gyoza is 50 baht per order. I saw the cook fixing an order while I was there, but didn't try it as yet...

Meanwhile, thanks James for the word about KCa at Siam Paragon... Haven't tried or seen it yet, but I did find a very appetizing photo of their fare out on the Net... Looks yummy...

Well, happily, I finally found one pretty good answer to the question I posed in creating this thread... inexpensive (emphasis on that word) Japanese food in lower Sukhumvit.... How does 50, 60 or 80 baht per dish sound???

There is a food court in the basement of the Robinson department store (between Suk Sois 15 and 19) where the Tops supermarket is located. The shopping center is about halfway between the Nana and Asoke BTS stations. And in that food court is a small counter restaurant called Daikoku that serves pretty simple, decent, inexpensive cooked-to-order Japanese fare.

It's a coupon operation, meaning you can't pay cash but instead have to buy paper coupons from a nearby food court counter to pay for your meal. No sushi or sashimi here. Just a variety of simple, basic noodle and curry dishes, and no single dish above 80 baht, I do believe.

After a good exercise workout nearby yesterday, I tried their 50 baht zaru ramen as well as their 50 baht curry rice dish and found both to be freshly prepared and decent, especially for the price. Zaru ramen is a cold noodles dish accompanied by a dipping sauce. The curry rice plate at Daikoku includes a helping of white rice accompanied by some stewed pork, potato and carrot chunks in a routine brown Japanese curry sauce.

I wanted to try one of the tonkatsu items on the menu, but by 7 pm on a Monday evening, the cook said all of the tonkatsu was gone. Also on their menu are varieties of ramens, udons, gyoza and yakisoba.

Can't find anything about this small shop/restaurant on the web. But there have been/are fancier Japanese restaurants called Shin Daikoku located nearby on Suk Soi 19 and also at the Inter-Continental Hotel near the Ploenchit BTS station. So I'm guessing based on the name (but don't know for certain) that this counter is an offshoot of the regular restaurant.

The Daikoku counter in the Top's food court is small, with only maybe half a dozen seats. But you can also take your food, if you desire, and sit nearby in the much larger food court area and order drinks there as well.

For simple, common man's Japanese fare at a bargain price, Daikoku fits the bill...